Fellow intern Andrii exploring Centennial Park with Carson City in the background.
Balsamorhiza sagitata
Iva axillaris breaking through asphalt at the base of C hill!
Erythranthe carsoniensis
What a busy few weeks it has been! We’ve added another intern to our team, mapped the illusive and beautiful Webber’s Ivsia (Ivsia webberi), surveyed for rare monkey flowers (Erythranthe carsoniensis and Mimulus ovatus) and monitored drought conditions on grazing allotments. We also got the chance to help out with the Truckee River Environmental Education (TREE) day. This proved to be a welcome chance to play outside while doing something good for the planet on Earth Day.
TREE Day is an environmental education event for 4th and 5th graders from Reno, jointly hosted by the Nevada Nature Conservancy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It’s held at the McCarran Ranch, just west of Sparks, right on the Truckee River. About 250 kids came to rotate around the many interactive stations and learn about the ecosystem they were visiting. There was a water quality station, a meandering river station, and a wetland wildlife station complete with tadpoles and snakes. The other interns and I were responsible for two stations: a Botany Safari and an Invasive Weed Game. I took on the responsibility of editing and running the Invasive Weed Game and it quickly changed from a responsibility to my favorite pastime. I designed a race for resources meant to describe the competitive advantage that makes noxious weeds such a threat to native plants. When the game finally debuted, it was a hit! The kids were thoughtful and bright, energetic and ready to have fun. The game leaders fed off their energy and enthusiasm for nature and the station was a grand success! It was such a joy to hear 9 year olds shouting “Go Sagebrush Go!”
Who knows, maybe we met some CLM 2026 interns on TREE Day!
Happy Earth Day!
Rebecca
Carson City, BLM